07-21-23

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
July 21, 2023
I love it when the Judge next door at the Courthouse calls us to do a wedding (Paula, Mariah, and I have all done weddings). Sometimes we get the call because he is stuck in court and has a couple waiting to be married. Though we interact with the couples for less than 20 minutes, and usually just 15, I still really enjoy the people I meet. I respect the setting I’m in and thus do not impose a religious service on them. With that said, most of the time, the couple is really quite excited to learn a minister will be doing their service. I even had a mother say, "It’s an answer to my prayers." The other part I enjoy is inviting the couple (and family) over to our chapel for pictures. About half of them accept my invitation. In fact, the Judge often tells couples about the chapel, and the wedding parties—small and large—cross the street to have some nice pictures on their wedding day. This exudes the values and convictions of Cypress Creek Christian Church and Cypress Creek Christian Community Center. I remind people all the time of the Community Center mindset that very few churches have but is baked into the DNA of CCCC. These buildings were brought into existence with the larger community in mind, and it is the community that uses the buildings more than the church. I celebrate that!

As we learn in Acts 7, the Most High God does not dwell in buildings made with human hands (vs.48), though I do believe God is still encountered in the buildings we build. The point of this line in Stephen’s sermon prior to his stoning, at least as I read it, was to make sure people of faith maintained a healthy relationship with religious buildings, not allowing them to become idols. This is causing great tension in a lot of churches today. They talk a good game about the church being the people, not the building. And then turn around and treat people poorly who track dirt on their carpets and leave scuff marks on their floors. People are the priority in the Kin(g)dom of God.

​Sacred Spirit, as you move among us—whether it be in a defined worship space or the sacred space that is this world—we pray that our worship of you continues to find ways of joyfully blessing every member of the human family, even if they are just popping for a few photos in our chapel. Amen.